Judge says records will be unsealed in 38 Studios lawsuit
PROVIDENCE — All records will be unsealed in the lawsuit over Rhode Island’s failed $75 million deal with former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling’s video game company 38 Studios, a judge said Friday. The release could significantly advance the public’s understanding of how the deal came together. Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein said the parties have agreed that the files will be made public because discovery is complete. He said he hopes that happens within 10 days. Schilling agreed to move 38 Studios to Rhode Island in 2010 after the state’s Economic Development Corp. lured him from Massachusetts with a $75 million loan guarantee. The company went bankrupt less than two years later, leaving taxpayers on the hook to repay bonds that had been issued to fund the move. The EDC in 2012 sued Schilling and 13 executives of his company, former agency employees, investment banks, and others over the collapse, alleging fraud, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty, among other things. — Associated Press
Macadamia nuts recalled for possible Salmonella
NEW BEDFORD — Sid Wainer and Son, a New Bedford produce and specialty foods company, is recalling macadamia nuts due to a potential Salmonella contamination. The Food and Drug Administration says the product is labeled Jansal Valley Raw Macadamia Nuts. It was distributed nationwide in retail stores and in mail orders. Random third-party testing found a presence of Salmonella in one-pound packages. No illnesses have been reported. The company did not immediately return a call Friday. Consumers are urged to return the product to the place of purchase. — Associated Press
Twitter sets modest goals to diversify its workforce
SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter is setting modest goals to diversify its workforce while it fights a proposed class-action lawsuit that says the online messaging service discriminates against its female employees. The hiring targets were released Friday along with data showing that Twitter primarily employs white and Asian men in high-paying technology jobs, like most of its industry peers. Twitter is aiming to fill 16 percent of its technology jobs with a woman next year, up from 13 percent currently. The San Francisco company also wants women to make up 25 percent of its leadership roles, from 22 percent now, and is promising to hire more blacks and Hispanics. Based on a total workforce of about 4,100 people, Twitter currently employs about 1,400 women, or 34 percent of its total payroll. The company wants 35 percent of its total workforce to be comprised of women next year. — Associated Press
USDA to approve Simplot’s genetically engineered potato
BOISE, Idaho — The Department of Agriculture has approved a potato genetically engineered by Idaho’s J.R. Simplot Co. to resist the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine and that still damages crops around the world. ‘‘For historical reasons and current agriculture reasons, this is an important milestone,’’ said Haven Baker, vice president of plant sciences at Simplot. ‘‘The Irish potato famine did change a lot of Western history. Even today — a 160 years later — late blight is a $5 billion problem for the global potato industry.’’ The USDA made the disclosure Friday on its website. The Russet Burbank variety the USDA approved is the second generation of Simplot’s Innate potatoes and also includes the first generation’s reduced bruising and a greater reduction in a chemical produced at high temperatures some studies have shown can cause cancer. The second generation potato also includes an additional trait Simplot says will allow potatoes to be stored at colder temperatures longer to reduce food waste. — Associated Press
Ashley Madison CEO stepping down
NEW YORK — The CEO of the company that runs adultery website Ashley Madison is stepping down after a massive breach of the company’s computer systems and outing of millions of its members. The abrupt departure of Noel Biderman (left), which came without the appointment of an interim replacement, could be another sign that the website’s days may be numbered, experts say. ‘‘Unless they can immediately assure the public that their information is protected, then their business is over,’’ says Lawrence Kellogg, a partner with the law firm Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider & Grossman LLP, who specializes in class action lawsuits. ‘‘The only reason for an adulterer to join the service is to keep their information private. Absent that, they don’t have a business.’’ Kellogg says that if the lawsuits from Ashley Madison members keep piling up, Avid Life Media Inc., Ashley Madison’s parent company, may ultimately end up filing for bankruptcy protection. — Associated Press
FCC reviewing Pandora approval to buy radio station
Federal regulators are reconsidering their approval for Pandora Media Inc. to buy a South Dakota radio station, taking up rights-holders’ challenge to a purchase that was made in order to pay lower music royalties. Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler has asked fellow commissioners to vote on the agency’s May 1 approval that let Pandora buy KXMZ in Rapid City, according to the FCC’s website. “It’s probably an indication that the FCC is not going to tolerate Pandora disrupting the industry by using a loophole,” said Richard Tullo, a New York-based analyst with Albert Fried & Co. Pandora, with more than 79 million users, paid $600,000 for the station on the doorstep of the Black Hills in hopes of saving millions of dollars in fees paid to songwriters and publishers for playing their music. Traditional broadcasters pay a lower royalty rate than digital outlets and Pandora, with the purchase, wanted to be assessed at that rate, too. The sale was completed in June. — Bloomberg News
Survey: Plunging stock prices hit buyer sentiment
WASHINGTON — Plummeting stock prices have taken a toll on US consumer confidence, though there are signs the setback may be temporary. The University of Michigan says its consumer sentiment index fell to 91.9 this month from 93.1 in July. The index is still up 11.4 percent from a year ago. The figures provide an early read of the impact on consumers from the 1,900 point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average over six days through Tuesday. Stock prices have since recovered some of those losses. The University of Michigan surveys consumers throughout the month and so some of the responses were tallied as stock prices plunged. The University said it extended its interviews until Aug. 23. The survey also found that Americans remain confident about the US economy and their personal finances. — Associated Press
US consumer spending up moderate 0.3 percent in July
WASHINGTON — US consumers increased their spending moderately in July, as wages and salaries made their biggest jump in eight months. Spending rose 0.3 percent in July, helped by purchases of big-ticket items such as cars, the Commerce Department said Friday. June’s result was revised up to a matching 0.3 percent gain. Incomes rose 0.4 percent in July. The key category of wages and salaries rose 0.5 percent, the biggest advance since last November. The report suggests that consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity, got off to a good start in the third quarter. Economists, who believe the economy will be fueled in the second half of this year by solid income and spending gains, were encouraged by the July results. ‘‘All of the data are heading in the right direction,’’ said Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in a note to clients. ‘‘Except for inflation.’’ — Associated Press